definition - Those looking to make relative gains are playing a zero-sum game where one person must win over the other. Absolute gains show a more cooperative approach, where all can gain and everyone becomes better off by working in a cooperative relationship

relevance - Realist: Realists are only concerned with the relative power of hegemons/rising hegemon/challengers to hegemony. States are competitive and only act when it means that they gain and someone else loses. Liberal: Liberalists are concerned with the idea of open market economies and the benefits arising from free trade, it follows then, that they are concerned with absolute gains. The world is a better place when everyone wins. 

example - Territorial disputes & trade deals

definition - International anarchy refers to the absence of a central authority/world governing power that can ensure the survival of states and enforce agreements between them.

relevance - Realist: each state must be concerned with its relative (military) power and be concerned about the intentions and capabilities of other states, Liberal: cooperation can occur despite the fact that IR is anarchical. Constructivist: "anarchy is what states make of it" --> social construction

example - Hobbes (Leviathan)

definition - The balance of power theory in IR suggests that national security is enhanced when military capability is distributed so that no one state is strong enough to dominate all others

relevance - How states balance will depend on the distribution of capabilities (military and economic) among the greater powers. In bipolar distributions of power, states will balance through internal military buildup. In multipolar distributions of power, states will balance through the formation of counterbalancing alliances.

example - bandwagoning

definition - Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy “speak softly and carry a big stick”, the idea of negotiating peacefully, while simultaneously threatening with the “big stick” threat of military action.

relevance - Tied to the idea of Realpolitik which implies a pursuit of power that resembles Machiavellian ideals. It is comparable to gunboat diplomacy, as used in international politics by imperial powers.

example - Russo-Japanese War

definition - In neorealist IR theory, the sovereign state is a black box. States are unitary, self interested actors, and the actual decision-making processes of the state are regarded as being largely irrelevant Any politics within the state is irrelevant for understanding that states’ interests in international society.

relevance - To black box the state is to say that what happens within the state is not of relevance to international relations. If black box occurs, all states will act the same as all are maximizing their own interests and security.

example - Composition of a state

definition - High risk - high reward behaviour. A product of the "Financial Counter-Revolution," and refers to the practice of investment banks, brokers, and traders making big speculative investments and financial moves which can increase the volatility of the market, and exacerbate economic instability, which can lead to bubbles, crashes, and financial crises.

relevance - Casino capitalism was enabled by the deregulation that occurred in the neoliberal era and explains the increasing volatility of the global financial system. Risk to the stability of global order. Exemplifies the dangers of the modern capitalist international order.

example - 2009 financial crisis

definition - Whether or not states have mutual interests. 

relevance - There may be cooperation among states because it is more profitable and within their best interests, or they may have have the same ideologies. Not just about security.

example - Liberal vs. Marxist assumptions

definition - An international crisis is a situation where there is some significant change in the normal interaction patterns between nations.

relevance - Crises are increasingly more difficult to define when traditional wars or states of emergencies have become rare. They no longer take place between nation states, as informal networks and actors are present invariably. They transcend the boundaries of foreign and domestic policy and strategy.

example - Iraq disarmament crisis

definition - occurs when ostensibly democratic organizations or institutions fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation

where representative and linked parliamentary integrity becomes widely discussed.

relevance - Problem Afflicting Global Finance: Technical, exert rule and democratic deficit:

old boys clubs with little representation of non experts, non westerners, and women

example - European Economic Community

definition - Dependency theory is the notion that resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. Poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the "world system". Underdeveloped countries are not primitive versions of developed ones, but instead, have their own unique features and structures.

relevance - Reaction and rejection of modernization theory.

example - Latin America

definition - An economic and social inequality with regard to access to, use of, or impact of information and communication technologies. The divide between differing countries or regions of the world is referred to as the global digital divide, examining this technological gap between developing and developed countries on an international scale

relevance - Proponents for closing the digital divide include those who argue it would improve literacy, democracy, social mobility, economic equality and economic growth. The problem is often discussed in an international context, indicating certain countries are far more equipped than other developing countries to exploit the benefits from the rapidly expanding Internet.

example - installed telecommunication bandwidth

definition - To distantiate, is to set or keep something at a distance, particularly mentally.

relevance - Distance and distancing in the international system leads to a moral disconnect.

example - eating meat

definition - Eco-imperialism is a term coined by Paul Driessen to refer to the forceful imposition of Western environmentalist views on developing countries.

relevance - This is a means by which Western powers are employing their advantage in the international system to advance their interests, perhaps at the expense of developing countries. Eco-imperialism thus has the potential to perpetuate the existing hegemonic order.

example - ecological reserves

definition - The way economists think that economics is easy. Associated with 19th century marginalist revolution where economists started using a lot of technical jargon to mimic scientific language and separate economics and politics.

relevance - Economic models and the terms that they use are both difficult to grasp and contain a degree of subjectivity. By employing certain models, information is communicated (or not) to actors in a way that affects their perception and thus their decisions. Constructivists stress the role of rhetoric in IR and global politics. 

example - technical economic terms 

definition - Roles of non-elite in wider international structures, everyday behaviour can contest and bring about subtle change, e.g, using different language, or simply not acting.

relevance - Impact on the international system through differences in culture, practice, representation, etc.

example - backpack diplomacy

definition - The G-20 Summit is a meeting of 20 largest economies in the world. Head of governments, finance ministers and central bank governors attended these conferences, which concern the establishment of an international financial, security, and economic framework which includes the input of the IMF and World Bank.

relevance - The summit is an opportunity to go through iterations and learn about one another’s interests, tendencies, and acts as an arena for power politics to play out

example - Ivanka in Hamburg

definition - GDP is the gross domestic product or total output of the country, measured in constant

dollars, divided by the total population

relevance - Nominal GDP estimates are commonly used to determine the economic performance of a whole country or region, and to make international comparisons.

example - comparisons

definition - The international processes of production and goods movement that characterize consumer markets. The links between raw materials, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are typically integrated by dominant suppliers of the manufactured good.

relevance - Today, multi-national companies integrate their supply chains across international borders, and are therefore complicit in human rights abuses and environmental concerns that occur in less-regulated countries they operate in

example - Ivory Coast

definition - Tendency for a collection of people to minimize disagreement and conflict amongst themselves by promoting uniformity.

relevance - Marxists argue that groupthink socializes us to think of the elite interests as state interests.

example - Vietnam War

definition - The basis of Marxism. There is a thesis which creates a reaction to the thesis, then the antithesis (the opposite of the thesis), then a natural tension between the two and an ultimate solution, the synthesis. Basically, the idea that there is one thing (ie capitalism) there is a reaction to that thing (ie the proletariat are exploited), then there is the antithesis (communist revolution), then the synthesis (ultimately adopting a communist system).

relevance - Important to the Marxist worldview. Can be applied to how evolving political orders can be understood. Natural change and revolution.

example - Industrial revolution -> exploitation -> communism

definition - Political, economic, or military predominance or control of one state over others. The dominant state is known as the hegemon.

relevance - Many see that there is always one hegemon in the world who sets norms, and dictates world order. Hegemony allows states to impose their will on others, and usually use this power to advance their position.

example - NATO & US Military spending, or Cold War

definition - Heavily Indebted Poor Countries - a group of 37 developing nationations that have high level of debt and poverty and thus are eligible for special assistance from the IMF and World Bank, a program that started in 1996.

relevance - Neo-colonialism; role of the Washington Consensus; is debt relief effective?; eco-imperialism; whose fault is this? Marxist: locked into colonial systems they cannot get out of.

example - Afghanistan

definition - Homo oeconomicus: humans can effectively be reduced to a set of rational decisions with systematic probability when interacting with the economy. Homosociologicus: humans are social actors with possibility of infinite different actions and interactions, it is rare for human beings to act rationally.

relevance - Humans as purely rational actors (RARE - Rational Actors Rational Expectations) vs. Humans are more holistic beings, choices are not always made purely based on rationality.

example - constructivism vs. realism

definition - Foreign policy holds that a state should make its internal political philosophy the goal of its foreign policy.

relevance - Stands for improving the course of international relations by eliminating war, hunger, inequality, tyranny, force, suppression and violence from international relations. Basically, advocates the need for improving relations among nations by removing the evils present in the international environment.

example - domestic vs. worldwide poverty

definition - Those who agree with the liberal international order. From a constructivist focus, we can see that this language reveals an Ingroup and Outgroup. Those outside of the community may be depicted as barbaric, "savage."

relevance - Who is included, heard, and has influence within the global political sphere is key to decisions made in terms of legal, political and economic outcomes. Those who are not included may not have their voices heard and decisions may be detrimental for their countries/regions prosperity - usually countries who have experienced colonization.

example - East Timor

definition - Organizations that rely on the partnership and cooperation of actors of all kinds (ie states, NGOs, firms), from all over the world or at least across a certain region. Normally used for norm setting, or for increasing communication amongst actors on all sorts of issues.

relevance - Helps institutionalize global problems, a method of addressing collective problems that are not just about the state. Globalization, connectedness of people, etc are all key to solving international issues. They help set norms, create change, and influence actors.

example - WTO, IMF, World Bank, Washington Consensus

definition - The geological surface area of the Earth not covered by water, and upon which non-aquatic organisms inhabit.

relevance - In IR, land is seen for its geopolitical characteristics, as the physical demarcation of political territories for the purpose of jurisdiction. State sovereignty is exerted through the establishment of borders along particular designations of land, and the abrogation of that sovereignty is characterized by movement into land not considered the property of one's jurisdiction. Land is also the source of resources, and along with strategic concerns, is often pursued in interstate conflict.

example - Indigenous land claims

definition - Organization of civilized nations working collectively for all the world’s people, born out of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points and came to being in the international system in 1919 with the Treaty of Paris and the League of Nations Convent.

relevance - The League of Nations is the first time a globalist government was envisioned and implemented, motivated primarily by collective security. Likewise, the importance of peaceful negotiations and arbitrations were emphasized for the maintenance of peace. Precursor to the UN and what became the liberal globalist world order.

example - constructivist vs. realist

definition - The three levels of analysis are individual (human choices and actions), domestic (institutions, regimes, etc.) and international (global order).

relevance - Domestic level of analysis and domestic theories of international relations are critical to understanding international relations, and can help us understand the way states act. In order to understand international relations you have to look inside states.

example - Iraq War

definition - A sense of a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language. A person's identity or sense of belong to one state, and may refer to the subjective feeling one shares with a group of people about a nation, regardless of one's legal citizenship status, is a social construct.

relevance - nationalism, strengthens the state, it is most notable when it confronts and internal or external enemy, can impact actions and stances that states take on the international stage, politically or through military action

example - patriotism

Neo-colonialism [image]

definition - The use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control or influence other countries, especially former colonies.

relevance - It’s the idea that the structures of colonialism have extended and bee perpetuated by institutions in the international system.

example - Scramble for Africa

definition - Theory in modern IR that our system of sovereignty is like that of the middle ages, where no state exercises full sovereignty, but every state participates in interweaving sovereignty.

relevance - This theory challenges how we perceive the idea of sovereignty and its role in the international system. We normally perceive sovereignty as something that should not be violated and something that is held solely by a state.

example - the European Union

definition - A norm entrepreneur is an actor who utilizes organizational platforms and shared moral assessment to change norms during the emergence stage of norm development.

relevance - The international system is largely shaped by norms, which in turn impacts the decisions of states and actors.

example - FDR

definition - The investment and keeping of money in a jurisdiction other than one’s country of residence.

relevance - Common means of evading taxes, laundering money, or concealing legally acquires money. Shows how money and resources move between not only states, but people and firms as well. An example of how globalization has changed financing.

example - The Paradise Papers

definition - 21st century development strategy proposed by the Chinese government that focuses on connectivity and cooperation between Eurasian countries.

relevance - Potentially a major consideration in state interaction, shows how domestic concerns can shape global events (China concerned about slowing growth and unemployment at home will try and expand economically). Connection to dependency.

example - China-Laos high speed rail

definition - In IR, public diplomacy is the communication with and dissemination of propaganda to the general public of foreign nations to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence.

relevance - Public diplomacy is one of soft power’s key instruments. Also, diplomacy has become a game where the roles and responsibilities of actors in IR are not clearly delineated. It became increasingly clear that without public diplomacy, conventional diplomatic activity would be insufficiently effective.

example - Cold War

definition - The prejudiced representation of Eastern cultures and peoples by outsiders.

relevance - Edward Said’s 1978 work Orientalism argues that culture and power are closely related in the historical establishment of world order. The West associated non-Western cultures with traits that are the opposite of Western values and that carried strongly negative connotations. This helped to justify and naturalize the hierarchies of power between various (culturally-defined) world regions, and eventually to institutionalize the European sovereign state model as a global system.

example - Muslims

definition - The Peace of Westphalia (1648) comprised two treaties negotiated in the northwest of modern Germany, at the towns of Münster and Osnabrück. The treaties brought to an end the Thirty Years War (1618–48).

relevance - The Westphalian treaties are often used to mark the beginning of the modern era of politics, with the idea of absolute state sovereignty, sometimes known as the Westphalian System.

counter example - R2P

definition - A political conviction, a theory into the practice of activist scholarship. Not simply your political conviction, but a political conviction that requires some sort of practice.

relevance - Catalyst for change in global politics.

example - marxism

definition - Problem-solving works within our preconceived “common sense” assumptions at a point in time to come up with a solution. It reinforces the status quo. Critical theory questions the problem itself and our “common sense” assumptions. In order to think critically we must identify influences that have made us think the way we do.

relevance -  We roughly divide conservatives and liberals along these lines. Whereas the former are focused on finding solutions to the problems that exist in society, the latter take issues with the fundamental assumptions themselves. Therefore, the problem-solving theories tend to preserve the existing structure of society, while the critical theorists emphasize the necessity for change that they think would make things better.

example - neo-classical economics vs. marxism

definition - Occurs when one person or entity (the "agent") is able to make decisions on behalf of, or that impact, another person or entity: the "principal". This dilemma exists in circumstances where agents are motivated to act in their own best interests, which are contrary to those of their principals, and is an example of moral hazard. The problem arises where the two parties have different interests and asymmetric information (the agent having more information), such that the principal cannot directly ensure that the agent is always acting in their (the principal's) best interest.

relevance -Very important in diplomacy and domestically within states. The state is not a homogenous entity, its operation and interactions depend on the people in positions of power

example - The New Deal: politicians (agent) and voters (principal)

definition - A standard example of a game analyzed in game theory that shows why two completely rational individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interests to do so. The prisoner's dilemma game can be used as a model for many real world situations involving cooperative behaviour. 

relevance - In international political theory, the Prisoner's Dilemma is often used to demonstrate the coherence of strategic realism, which holds that in international relations, all states (regardless of their internal policies or professed ideology), will act in their rational self-interest given international anarchy.

example - Cold War arms race

definition - The theory or practice of shielding a country's domestic industries from foreign competition by taxing imports. Also reduce trade and adversely affect consumers in general, and harm the producers and workers in export sectors, both in the country implementing protectionist policies, and in the countries protected against.

relevance - There is a universal consensus among economists that protectionism has a negative effect on economic growth and economic welfare, while free trade, deregulation, and the reduction of trade barriers has a positive effect on economic growth. Many hegemons (US, EU and Japan) advocate for liberal policies but actually practice protectionism.

example - Trump's trade war with China

definition - Private property is legal designation for the ownership of property by legal entities, vs communal property is a resource used by all.

relevance - Borders and territory are fundamental to capitalism, private vs communal property. Legal ownership of land, Marxists argue, constitutes the commodification of nature and may exacerbate hierarchy by leaving the rich better to cope with problems (ex. environmental), while the poor suffer.

example - Global land rush

definition -  RARE stands for Rational Actors Rational Expectations. The assumption is that people are rational actors that maximize their own well-being in their dealing with others.

relevance -Rational choice is one of the major approaches in the postwar study of international relations. This theory does not account for uncertainty in international relations and thereby obscures human reality. Failure to recognize that actors do not always make rational decisions or have rational expectations makes this a bad assumption to underlie models of politics and economics.

example - no such thing as a truly rational actor

definition - The responsibility to protect is a global political commitment that calls for member states of the United Nations to protect all populations from mass atrocity crimes and human rights violations, based upon the principle that sovereignty entails this responsibility.

relevance - R2P is relevant theoretically because it makes sovereignty a principle that bestows certain duties upon a state and the international community can hold that state accountable, rather than sovereignty granting the state complete jurisdiction within its borders. 

example - Libya

definition - Self-determination is the rights of a particular group of people to determine for themselves how and by whom they wish to be governed.

relevance - Decolonization was a period where those who had been colonized sought a return of self-determination and independence. Self-determination is often the basis upon which colonized groups or indigenous groups attempt to assert their rights.

example - Timor-Leste.

definition - The use of automatic border control systems to improve migration security.

relevance - Adoption of a common policy and increasing harmonized border control would make travelling for EU citizens even easier and reduce the barrier and significance of borders for those people.

example - European Union

definition - Soft power is the ability of a country to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.

relevance - Successful states would be maximally powerful with both hard and soft power, both the ability to coerce others as well as the ability to shape their long-term attitudes.

example - United States

definition - Structural adjustment programs are loans provided by the IMF and WB to countries that experienced economic crises with conditions attached.

relevance - The US, in its unipolar moment, utilizes SAPs to impose the neo-liberal system upon developing countries.

example - Ivory Coast

definition - Technocracy is a system of governance where decision-makers are selected for office on the basis of their technical expertise or background in areas of responsibility, particularly scientific knowledge.

relevance - Decision making responsibility shifts from people to calculations, which are proprietary and thus expand the private sector, leading to depoliticization and financialization.

counter example - China

definition - Tech diplomacy is an era where a new world order emerges around cities and their economies as they drive digital policy and innovation, rather than around the borders of nations.

relevance - Moving away from borders and advancement of tech indicates growing globalization, increase use of technology in communications of politicians

example - Trump's twitter (@potus)

definition - Terra nullius is a latin expression that means "nobody's land." It is a principles used in international law to describe territory that may be acquired by the state's occupation.

relevance - Civilization was about dominance and control over land and resources. Settlers did not recognize the complicated understandings indigenous peoples had of their lands, thus rendering it easier to deem the land as empty.

example - BC and Trutch

definition - The tragedy of the commons is an economic situation in which every individual tries to reap the greatest benefit from a given resources. Demand exceeds supply.

relevance - Actors in the international system seek to maximized their own benefits from shared resources and try to avoid the costs of protecting them.

example - Global environmental resources

definition - The international 1%, who capital multiples itself on the back of global poverty, child labour, institutional pressure to “liberalize” and join the “free market” which is largely controlled by the transnational capitalist class. Marxist terminology identifying the global capitalist elite have more in common with one another than with their “countrymen” of different classes.

relevance - Financial institutions which control poverty-alleviation measures and promote liberalization through structural adjustment policies, if they are actually working for the best interests of the transnational capitalist class, may not be as effective or beneficial after all

example - IMF, World Bank

definition -  Set of policy recommendations said to be followed by a number of international monetary institutions that included the IMF, WB, and WTO. 

relevance - Promoted the emergence of the liberal world order. A liberal model of addressing poverty. Advocated for lessening the role of the government and increasing the role for non state actors as such.

example - structural adjustment programs 

definition - Unique kind of coercion, one predicated on the intentional creation, manipulation, and exploitation of real or threatened mass population movements. Coercers aim to affect target states' behaviour by exploiting the existence of competing political interests and groups and by manipulating the costs or risks imposed on target state populations.

relevance - Systematic examination of this widely deployed but largely unrecognized instrument of state influence.

example - Vietnam War

definition - Zero-sum, positive-sum are game theory terms that refer to the outcomes of a dispute or negotiation. They refer to the actual amount of wealth  -- measurable rewards -- that each party receives. In a zero-sum situation, it is impossible for one party to advance its position without the other party suffering a corresponding loss. "Positive-sum" outcomes are those in which the sum of winnings and losses is greater than zero.

relevance -  Affects how we perceive interactions amongst actors in the international system.

example - East India Company